Obama library planning push moves into next stage

The team responsible for helping Barack Obama build his presidential library moved into the next stage of planning on Thursday, as his foundation put out a request for institutions and other entities to indicate their interest in hosting the library.

The Barack H. Obama Foundation, launched in late January, “envisions a library that reflects President Obama’s values and priorities throughout his career in public service, including expanding economic opportunity, inspiring an ethic of American citizenship, and promoting peace, justice, and dignity throughout the world,” it said in a statement. The foundation is also hoping “to build a facility that will cultivate a strong relationship with the surrounding community and be an anchor for economic development.”

Text Size

-

+

reset

“Our goal is to build a library of which the whole country, and hopefully the whole world, can be proud,” foundation member and close Obama friend Marty Nesbitt said in a statement. “Our vision is to create a space that reflects President Obama’s values and priorities throughout his career in public service and serves as force for good in the surrounding community and throughout our world.”

Responses to the foundation’s request for qualifications are due on June 16 and must include details of a potential site, access to transportation and information about the surrounding community. Those applicants deemed “most competitive” will be asked to provide more comprehensive information this summer in response to a request for proposals. Obama is expected to choose a site by early 2015.

Chicago is widely seen as the front-runner to host the library, and three major universities there — the University of Chicago, Chicago State University and the University of Illinois at Chicago — have all expressed interest in being affiliated with the library. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s first White House chief of staff, has said that he wants Chicago to submit just one proposal to the foundation. His office hasn’t yet clarified how that plan will be crafted, but the University of Chicago has begun reaching out to potential collaborators.

Democrats in Springfield have proposed that the state of Illinois pitch in $100 million toward the project.

Columbia University, where Obama spent the second half of his undergraduate education, is also interested in hosting the library and is expected to make a bid. While the University of Hawaii and the state of Hawaii started lobbying for the library before Obama got to the White House, the state has scaled back its ambitions and instead hopes to host a presidential center that is affiliated with the library.

The foundation is led by three people with close ties to the president — Nesbitt, fundraiser Julianna Smoot and J. Kevin Poorman, the CEO of PSP Capital Partners, which was founded by Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

The foundation will not accept donations from entities or organizations other than 501(c)(3)s. It will also refuse contributions from foreign nationals, registered foreign lobbyists and foreign agents. All contributions of $200 or more will be disclosed on a quarterly basis.